Micromax A116 Canvas HD Available From Feb 14: What Are The Goods and Bads Of Jelly Bean Phablet?

It can be said that the India based manufacturers has reaped the trending phablet segment and the local vendors have now started gaining benefits from the harvest. Initially, the budget phablets were based on Android ICS, however, in 2013 most of the renowned companies have started coming up with Jelly Bean phablets in the nation.
Micromax is one of the leading India based tech company, which is involved in making smartphones, phablets and tablets at reasonable price ranges and with an eye to take over the market as a dominator. The company has already launched a couple of Android ICS tablets in 2012 with dual SIM and pretty decent specifications at Rs 9,999.
In January 2013, Micromax took a giant leap by penetrating deep into the phablet market with the launch of A116 Canvas HD. Interestingly, the phablet is equipped with a quad core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a few other high-end specifications under its hood.
Key Specifications
As far as specs are concerned, A116 Canvas HD houses a 5 inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 8MP rear camera, VGA front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS and a 2,100 mAh battery.



Preloaded Applications
Micromax A116 Canvas HD is loaded with applications including M!Store, M!Buddy, M!SMS, M!Zone and Hook Up.
Price & Availability
At the time of launch, Micromax has not disclosed the official pricing of its latest Canvas offering - A116 Canvas HD. However, the tech experts estimated that the device will be priced in the sub Rs 15,000 price range.
Now, Micromax has posted on its official website that Canvas HD will be available only at www.micromaxinfo.com from February 14, 2013, thats Valentine's Day.
A116 Canvas HD - The Goods
Micromax has been long awaited for a Jelly Bean based device with impressive specifications. With the launch of A116 Canvas HD, a day before the unveiling of Samsung Galaxy Grand in India, the former has been making rounds in the Indian tech news for the latest quad core HD phablet. Moreover, the phablet has enough features listed below to claim its one of the best offerings in the market currently.
IPS HD Display
IPS (In-Plane Switching technology) is used for LCDs to solve the limitations like relatively slow response, small viewing angles and low quality color reproduction. Further, these displays offer consistent and accurate color from any viewing angle and have the ability to offer clear images.
The advantage of IPS display is combined with HD resolution in A116 Canvas HD. The phablet sports a 5 inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. Hence, the content appears with excellent quality in all aspects.
Quad Core MediaTek Processor
The quad core MediaTek MT6589 chipset integrates a power efficient ARM Cortex A7 processor and PowerVR Series5XT GPU offering a powerful performance at a very competitive price. Further, the processor offers innovative and advanced dual SIM solution, high-end multimedia capabilities with support to up to 13MP camera and full HD LCD support.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS
This the first time, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean launched in June 2012 is being incorporated on a Micromax device. The platform has new features including Project Butter for smoother and more responsive interface, expandable and contractible notifications, resizable app widgets, live wallpaper preview, high resolution contact photos, improved Android Beam, better camera interface and improved Google Now.
A116 Canvas HD - The Bads
Wi-Fi
Of course, Canvas HD has Wi-Fi connectivity, however, it lacks dual band Wi-Fi, that operates on more than two different network frequencies. With the dual band Wi-Fi, consumers can enjoy the benefits of a stronger internet connection.
Internal Storage
Though the handset comes with a micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, it has only a mere 4GB internal storage on board. Given that the applications will be stored on the internal storage be default, such a less capacity is quite disappointing.
8MP Camera
The 8MP rear camera with a resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels in Canvas HD comes with LED flash and fares well for normal usage. However, it lacks BSI sensor that is present in a few other budget offerings. The BSI sensor will improve the quality of low light photography to a great extent.

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Aircel offers ‘Mobile Money’

  The Telecom operator Aircel has launched a new service called ‘Mobile Money’ in collaboration with ICICI Bank and Visa to enable its customers transfer money, pay bills and withdraw cash by using only their mobile phones—without having to make a trip to the bank or an ATM.  It is similar to Vodafone’s M-Pesa service which first pioneered to great success in Africa.
The service will be initially rolled out in Tamil Nadu, specifically for the Chennai – Tirunelveli corridor – to help migrant labourers send back money to their villages.
How does it work?
A person who wishes to transfer money from A location to B destination will have to deposit the money with a correspondent in the A area, after which an SMS is sent to the recipient confirming the transaction details. The recipient has to merely go to a banking correspondent in their respective area (B) to retrieve the cash.
This plan will work even if both parties have no ICICI bank account, with the minimum amount needed to start an account being Rs. 100. The company will make money by charging commission ranging from 1.5 to 3% on each transaction.

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Top note-taking apps for your Android device

Searching for a pen and a paper to take urgent notes, and later searching for those notes is trying. A note-taking app on your android device keeps your notes and memos safe and handy. Here are a few apps that just don’t save your notes and memos, but do a lot more. These five best-known apps are freely available on Google Play.

1.       Evernote
2.       Springpad
3.       Catch
4.       ColorNote
5.       MobisleNotes

Evernote

The best note-taking app for android. Compose a note, voice-record it, take a snapshot, or attach multimedia content from your device to your notes and tag it with location; you can do all this with this awesome app. Organize your notes with tags, share them and access them on any device online.

With Evernote browser addon, you can clip selected text and images from the web. Share your notes with friends or colleagues directly from the app.

Springpad

Springpad is not just a note-taking app. Save all that you love on the web and organize them with this app. From clipping articles from the web to recording voice memos, it is fun to use on your Android device. As with Evernote, you can save articles and pictures from your web browser with a click.

Catch Notes

Catch Notes helps you save ideas for future use. It has a lovely interface with options to colour and distinguish your notes. Features include creating checklists, adding images to your notes, creating voice notes and keeping reminders. Catch helps collaborate with friends by sharing your notes and ideas.

ColorNote

This app has a regular notebook interface. With ColorNote, taking notes and editing them is simple. Write your notes, memos, to-do lists and shopping lists, set reminders to make your life smooth. ColorNote comes with a calendar to which you can directly add memos.

Use ColorNote widgets to place important notes on your device’s home-screen.

MobisleNotes

MobisleNotes is another app with simple notebook interface. If you do not want note-taking to be another task, go for this app. Write your tasks and, when the tasks are completed, check them off.

Source: TechScan

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Hackers target gamers, 7,000 attacks everyday in 2012: Kaspersky

Gamers it seems are not only in danger of AI enemies but also real human beings. According to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), there were around 7,000 attacks on gamers around the world every day by hackers last year.

Hackers tried to get access to online accounts, passwords, and also tried stealing avatars and in-game items to subsequently sell these virtual goods for real money. KSN said that malicious users send an average of 10 emails with malicious links and attachments to gamers every day, in addition to making roughly 500 attempts to infect gamers via browser-based attacks.
“Cybercriminals invoke the names of well-known gaming sites and try to lure gamers to their fake websites to harvest passwords from registered gaming accounts,” Kaspersky said.
The company has been collecting malicious programs that target online gamers and it says that the number of such programs is increasing at a rate of 5,000 new programs a day. When such attacks are categorized geographically, India is ranked third after Russia and China.

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Government may impose Rs. 650 crore penalty on Airtel for violating license norms

India’s leading telco Bharti Airtel could face a penalty of Rs. 650 crore for violating licence norms.
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) committee had proposed imposition of Rs 50 crore each for violating national long-distance (NLD)/international long distance (ILD) licence conditions in 13 circles .These violations had taken between 2000 and 2005.
While the company has denied flouting any norms, DoT committee has sought the views of telecom minister Kapil Sibal on the violation issue.  The committee is of the view that the violation of norms by Airtel has resulted in loss to BSNL and the government.

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Google chairman Eric Schmidt to sell up to 3.2 mn shares

Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is selling roughly 42 percent of his stake in the Internet search company, a move that could potentially net the former chief executive a $2.51 billion windfall.

Schmidt, 57, will sell 3.2 million shares of Class A common stock through a stock trading plan, Google said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

The plan, which Google said would give Schmidt "individual asset diversification and liquidity," allows Schmidt to spread trades out over a period of one year to reduce the market impact.

Shares of Google were down $4.11 at $781.26 in after-hours trading on Friday.

A Google spokeswoman would not comment on why Schmidt is selling the shares at this time.

Wedbush Securities analyst James Dix said Schmidt's stock sales did not worry him or signal a loss of confidence in the company by Schmidt. "I'd be more worried if the current CEO or CFO sold a lot of their stake," said Dix.

Schmidt, who served as Google's chief executive until 2011, currently owns roughly 7.6 million shares of Class A and Class B common stock. The shares represent 2.3 percent of Google's outstanding stock and roughly 8.2 percent of the voting power of Google's stock.

The fact that Schmidt will still own a significant amount of shares after the sales means he'll have a good deal of "skin in the Google game," said Needham & Co analyst Kerry Rice. But he said it could hint at Schmidt playing a less central role within the company going forward.

"My speculation is that Eric's relationship with Google is evolving," said Rice. "I would assume that as he decides he wants to diversify away from Google - both his career and financially - he's got ideas of what he would like to do with some of his funds."

Schmidt, who helped turn Google into the world's No.1 search engine during his decade as CEO, handed the reins to Google co-founder Larry Page in April 2011.

As executive chairman, Schmidt has been particularly involved in government relations, taking a leading role in the company's discussions with antitrust regulators in the United States and the European Union. The US Federal Trade Commission ended its investigation into Google last month without any action. Google has offered to change some of its business practices to appease European competition regulators.

"As Google moves to maybe more tactical battles, as opposed to the strategic battles it's been waging with the government, once those are concluded, maybe his role can be lessened," said Needham & Co's Rice.

Schmidt has also made headlines apart from Google. In January, Schmidt traveled to North Korea with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for a "personal" trip. The trip was criticized by the U.S. State Department as ill-timed - coming weeks after North Korea conducted a rocket launch in violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Shares of Google are trading at all-time highs, finishing Friday's regular session at a record closing price of $785.37. At that price, Schmidt's share sales would be worth $2.51 billion.

Google said that Schmidt entered into the stock trading plan in November. Schmidt was ranked 138 on the Forbes list of global billionaires with a net worth of $6.9 billion in March 2012.

Given Schmidt's changed role at the company and the amount of his wealth tied up in Google's stock, it was not unreasonable for him to diversify his holdings, said Wedbush Securities analyst Dix. "As good as Google stock is, it isn't as good as cash if you actually want to buy something," he said.

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India's fastest supercomputer 'Param Yuva II' unveiled

Stating that the Union government was committed to ensuring that India was the top destination for research and development globally, secretary of the department of electronics and information technology J Satyanarayana congratulated C-DAC Pune for launching Param Yuva II, the fastest supercomputer in India and 62nd fastest in the world. The supercomputer is expected to be of great help to the scientific community.
Satyanarayana was speaking after unveiling the computer at the C DAC premises in Pune on Friday. Director general of CDAC Rajat Moona and executive director of C-DAC Hemant Darbari was also present on the occasion.

Satyanarayana said "Research and development can be a major thrust area for India going forward. Computational infrastructure like Param Yuva II is necessary to achieve this."
Darbari said that this supercomputer would be of great use to the scientific community. He said "Areas like weather forecasting, seismic data analysis, scientific data processing will all be benefitted due to Param Yuva II. We were doing weather forecasting of over 58,000 villages with param yuva. Now we can double that number at a minimum. Industries like pharmaceuticals, bio informatics, aeronautical engineering will also benefit. Seismic data processing can be done much more efficiently with this new computer."
He said the main users of the supercomputer would be the scientific institutes, research laboratories and universities.
"Through the national knowledge network, the Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology can be linked to this computer. Pharmaceutical companies can use it for drug discovery as can the high performance computing community. The computer has been upgraded at a cost of Rs15 crore.”
This is the first supercomputer that has crossed 500 teraflops in computing power in the country.

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